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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



-S Brief 'TVe&tiSe oi} Theology. 



WRITTEN IN NASHVILLE, TENN., 



V BY 



A. O. CLEMENS, (I 

Of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, an Elder of the Church of God. 



COPYRIG-HT SECURED. 



Persons wishing a copy of this work can be supplied ,by address- 
ing the author as above. 



PRICE, FIFTEEN CENTS 



PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY THE 

CENTRAL ROOK CONCERN, Cincinnati, O. 
1881. 



orcoso«»»| -^^D* 1 

lWASHlNGTON| Q (p 

1RIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY, 

Embracing the Following Subjects: 

Page, 
First. — Do the Scriptures teach the doctrine of the 
final holiness and happiness of all the intelli- 
gent creatures of God, or do they teach the 
endless misery of a large portion of them, or 
the final extinction or unconscious being of that 
portion of them ? ..... 3 

Second. — The difficult subject of the genealogy of 
Christ explained. ..... 27 

Third. — The object or design and mode of water 
baptism explained. . . . . 31 

Fourth. — The object of the communion, and the 
ordinance of washing one another's feet ex- 
plained . . . S3 

Fifth. —Of the signs of the times, indicating the 
very near approach of those most fearful judg- 
ments spoken of in the prophecy of Zephaniah, 
the last chapter, eighth and ninth verses. Also 
embracing a very choice collection of hymns 
and spiritual songs, nine of which were com- 
posed by the author. ..... 36 

Sixth. — Covenant of the Church of God. . . 78 
(ii) 



A Brief Treatise on Theology, 



First. — Do the Scriptures teach the doctrine of 
the final holiness and happiness of all the 
intelligent creatures of God, or do they teach 
the endless misery of a large portion of them, 
or the final extinction or unconscious being 
of that portion of them? 

In this discourse or treatise I shall attempt 
to affirm the first of these three propositions, 
and deny the other two. And first, in pre- 
senting this subject to the public, I would 
say that as in the study of music, so in the 
study of the Scriptures, you must first find the 
key-note, or you will have discord and confusion 
all through. In this treatise I will assume that 
the key-note to the whole Bible is the word 
shall, or. in other words, that God's purposes 
(3) 



4 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

are immutably or unchangeably fixed, and that 
they are not based upon any contingency. As 
in Gen. ii. 17 : "For in the day that thou eatest 
thereof thou shalt surely die." You see from 
this passage that this penalty was attached to 
the law of God without conditions, and wher- 
ever God speaks in the Scriptures it is not in a 
slack or indifferent way, but in the most posi- 
tive terms. For example, in Isa. xlv. 23-25, 
"I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out 
of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not 
return, That unto me every knee shall bow. 
every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall every 
one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and 
strength : to him shall every one come ; and all 
that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. 
In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justi- 
fied, and shall glory." In the above passage 
you certainly can not fail to discover the fre- 
quent occurrence of the key-note shall; I, how- 
ever, have emphasized it, to impress the reader 
with its importance. I will now call your at- 
tention to another remarkable passage of this 
kind found in Matt. i. 21 : "And she shall bring 
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; 
for he shall save his people from their sins." 
But do you ask who his people are, of whom it 
is said that he shall save them from their sins? 
To this inquiry I would answer first, that the 
Israelites, that are now rejected of the Lord, 
are in a peculiar and pre-eminent sense the peo- 
ple of the Lord, as by promise made to Abra- 
ham (Gen. xii. 2, 3 ; xiii. 15, 16), and as in 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY- 5 

Matt, ii. 6, "For out of thee shall come a gov- 
ernor, that shall rule my people Israel." Again, 
in a more general sense, all intelligent creatures 
are his, for "they were all created by him, and 
for him.' (Col. i 16.) And Rev. iv. 11, "For 
thou hast created all things, and for thy pleas- 
ure they are and were created. ' And, again, 
they are his purchased possession (1 Tim. ii. 6), 
"Who gave himself a ransom for all." Again, 
they are all his by gift of the Father (John iii. 
35), i: The Father loveth the Son, and hath 
given all thiags into his hand." Again, they 
are all his by inheritance (Heb. i 2), "Whom 
he hath appointed heir of all things.'' Now 
there is no more doubt in my mind as to his 
saving his people from their sins (numerous as 
they may appear from the quotations above), 
than there is that Mary brought forth a son, 
and that they called his name Jesus. For if 
this were not true, the angel of God would have 
told the truth with reference to the son of Mary 
and his name, and a falsehood with reference to 
his saving his people from their sins. But just 
as sure as she brought forth that son, and just 
as sure as they called his name Jesus, so sure 
shall he save his people from their sins. But, 
perhaps, the most successful way of reaching 
the conclusion of this whole matter, is to in- 
quire into the design of God with reference to 
it, and the first passage to which I would invite 
attention upon this subject may be found in 
Paul to the Ephesians (Eph. i. 4), "According 
as he hath chosen us in him before the founda- 



6 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

tion of the world," etc. Again, Eph. i. 9, 10, 
"Having made known unto us the mystery of 
his will, according to-Tris good pleasure, which 
he hath purposed in himself: that in the dis- 
pensation of the fullness of times (not of time 
as most men teach), he might gather together 
in one all things in Christ, both which are in 
heaven, and which are on earth, even in him." 
The second passage in support of this point 
may be found in Paul to the Hebrews (Heb. ii. 
8-10), "Thou hast put all things in subjection 
under his feet. For in that he put all in sub- 
jection under him, he left nothing that is not- 
put under him. But now we see not yet all 
things put under him : but we see Jesus, who 
was made a little lower than the angels for the 
suffering of death, crowned with glory and 
honor ; that he by the grace of God should taste 
death for every man. For it became him, for 
whom are all things, and by whom are all things, 
in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the 
Captain of their salvation perfect through suf- 
ferings." Here, if you have observed the above 
quotation closely, Paul appears to contradict 
himself, for after sa*ying thou hast put all things 
in subjection under his feet, he then says, but 
now we see not yet all things put under him. But 
what does he mean? He evidently means this, 
that in design it is done, but remains to be car- 
ried out by a competent workman. Just as if you 
were going to build an expensive mansion, the 
first thing in order for you would be to get a 
competent draughtsman or designer to draw for 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 7 

you a complete draught or design of your house, 
from which you could calculate the entire cost 
of your house. And when your draughtsman 
had finished his work your house would be com- 
pleted so far as design was concerned, although 
not a single stroke had been struck in the 
actual construction of the house. Let us, then, 
understand Paul in this way, and all the ap- 
parent difficulty vanishes at once. But after 
your house is finished in design, what do you 
next want but a competent workman to go to 
work and carry out that design that you have 
on paper, and if you have a competent work- 
man, may you not reasonably expect to have 
such a house on the ground as you have on pa- 
per? Just so in the design of God, as presented 
above by Paul ; in design the work is already 
completed, and now we see Jesus, the great 
architect of the universe going to work to 
carry out the design of his Father, and see 
how carefully and prudently he goes to work, 
and by the grace of God tastes death for every 
man. But why, Paul, should he taste death 
for every man ? Because every man was em- 
braced in the plan oir design above, and he 
could never carry out that design without 
tasting death for every man, for there is no 
name given under heaven or among men whereby 
we must be saved but the name of Jesus Christ. 
But Paul says further that '-it became him for 
whom are all things, and hy whom are all th 
in bringing many sons unto glory." How many? 
I answer, just as many as are embraced in the 



C A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

plan above, and no more, and that is all, and hence 
the term many means precisely the same in this 
passage as that in Rom. v. 19 : "For as by one 
man's disobedience many were made sinners ; so 
by the obedience of one shall many be made 
righteous." Having now clearly shown that all 
are subdued or brought to submission to the 
will or government of God in design, it only 
remains for me to show by scriptural proof that 
this design will finally be carried out by the 
great Architect that has gone to work to accom- 
plish it. And I will just say at this point that 
the scope of evidence is so great that I will not 
attempt to bring into requisition all the proof- 
texts upon this subject, but will only notice 
some of the most prominent. The first to which 
I would call attention is in Ps. xxii. 27 : "All the 
ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto 
the Lord ; and all the kindreds of the nations 
shall worship before thee." The next, Rev. xv. 
4, " For all nations shall come and worship 
before thee." The next in 1 Tim. ii. 4, "Who 
will have all men to be saved, and to come unto 
the knowledge of the truth." The next, Ps. 
cxxxv. 6, "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that 
did he in heaven, and in earth, in the sea, and 
in all deep places" (or in hell). You will re- 
member that I proved that all were the Lord's 
people by gift, as in John iii. 35, "The Father 
loveth the Son, and hath given all things into 
his hand." With reference to which the Son 
says (John vi. 37-39), "All that the Father 
giveth me shall come to me : and him that 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 9 

cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. For 
I came down from heaven, not to do mine own 
will, but the will of him that sent me. And 
this is the Father's will which hath sent me, 
that of all which he hath given me I should 
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the 
last day." 

Another clear and indisputable proof of 
this fact is that found in the third of Matthew, 
12th verse : 

u *Whose fan is in his hand, and he will 
thoroughly purge hu floor, and gather his 
wheat into the garner ; but he will burn up the 
chaff with unquenchable fire," 

The figure here employed by John is that 
of a threshing floor filled with wheat and chaff 
mixed. The next is that of a fan, an instru- 
ment used for the purpose of separating the 
chaff from the wheat. And when this figure is 
understood, in its spiritual application to man- 
kind, his floor then evidently means his whole 
intelligent creation in a state of sin and rebellion, 
and by his wheat is meant the sinner in a pollut- 
ed or unclean state, and by the chaff (He don't 
call it his chaff) is meant that which pollutes 
the sinner, which is sin, from which he needs 
to be separated as the wheat n^eds to be separ- 
ated from the chaff before it is fit for the garner. 
It is his floor by promise, for the Father says 
to the Son, Psalm ii. 8: 

"Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heath- 
en for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts 
of the earth for thy possession." 



10 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

John does not say that he will partially purge 
his floor, or make a desperate effort to purge it 
and fail, but that he will thoroughly purge it. 
and gather his wheat into the garner, not a part 
of it, but all of it. 

What is meant by his fan is evidently all the 
appliances that God may use in this world or in 
the next, for the destruction of sin and the 
salvation of the sinner. You must remember 
Christ was not manifested to destroy sinners, 
but the works of the devil, which is sin. As 
in Dan. ix. 24, " To finish the transgression, and 
to make an end of sins, and to make reconcili- 
ation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting 
righteousness. ' It is the sin that he came to 
destroy, and to save the sinner. 

The wheat, then, represents the sinner saved 
from his sins, and the chaff his sins as separated 
from him, which are good for nothing but to be 
burned up and be no more. And on account of 
God's fixed purpose to destroy sin, the fire is 
said to be unquenchable; for should it be 
quenched by any means God's purpose to 
destroy the chaff would be a failure; but when 
the chaff is all burned up, which John says it 
will be, you can easily see that the fire would 
naturally go out, and still God's purpose be a 
grand success. But those who teach the doc- 
trine of endless punishment will tell you that 
much as the Lord may desire to purge his floor, 
and great as may be the effort he may make to 
purge it, yet it never will be purged ; and that 
he will always be burning at the chaff whether 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 11 

it be the sinner or the sin, and yet it never will 
be burned up. But the advocates of annihilation 
or the extinction of the sinner, along with his 
sins, say that God will literally burn up the sin- 
ner with his sins, and after that he shall have no 
conscious being. But don't you see what re- 
proach that would bring upon the character of 
God (who although as we have shown that He 
doeth whatsoever he pleaseth in heaven and on 
earth, in the sea, and in all deep places, or in 
the bottomless pit), if He should fail to fulfill 
the many positive declarations to which we have 
called your attention in .these pages, and will 
have to abandon his purpose to restore all of 
his intelligences to holiness and happiness. 

But can you give an intelligent reason why 
you should be believed when you thus contra- 
dict God's word? Will you say that it is 
because you find a few places where the Scrip- 
tures speak of the wicked being destroyed? But 
are you sure that those passages mean the wick- 
ed, and not the wickedness of the wicked; for 
it is said by one of old. c> 0, that the wickedness 
of the wicked might come to an end." 

Can you refer to any passage that clearly 
shows that God designed any part of his intelli- 
gent creation for endless misery, or to be blotted 
out of conscious being, and that he takes as 
much pleasure in their misery or destruction as 
he does in their happiness? t If you can show 
this, you only then have succeeded in arraying 
one part of the Bible against the other, and 
still you have gained nothing; if you cannot do 



12 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

so, which I am sure you cannot, then you would 
have to show that God has abandoned or 
changed his purpose to restore all before it 
would be safe to adopt either the doctrine of 
endless punishment, or that of endless destruc- 
tion. But to show that both of these doctiines 
are false with a single quotation, I need only to 
refer you to Isa lvii. 16, where God says : 
a For I will not contend forever, neither will I 
be always wroth; for the spirit should fail before 
me, and the souls which I have made," in other 
words if God should do so as the advocates of 
endless punishment say he will do, he acknowl- 
edges that the result as claimed by the annihila- 
tionist would be produced. But because he 
will not do as the advocates of endless punish- 
ment say he will, he therefore will not produce 
the result as claimed by the annihilationist, con- 
sequently both doctrines are false. 

But with reference to the destruction of the 
wicked as taught in the Scriptures. Let us ex- 
amine it in the light of the Scriptures and of 
reason. For, certainly, it would be unreasonable 
to suppose that a being whose understanding is 
infinite should fail in the accomplishment of any 
of his purposes for the want of wisdom ; or he 
who is omnipotent, for the want of power ; or 
he whose goodness is unbounded, for the want 
of goodness. Such a being, then, as this can 
not be thwarted in his purposes or designs. In 
what way, then, does the Bible teach that God 
will destroy the wicked ? I answer as follows : 
By converting them from sinners into saints. 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 13 

And as a text from which to explain this mat- 
ter, I will refer you to Paul's Epistle to the 
Hebrews (ii. 14, 15), as follows: "Forasmuch, 
then, as the children are partakers of flesh and 
blood, he also himself likewise took part of the 
same : that through death he might destroy him 
that had the power of death, that is. the devil : 
and deliver them, who through fear of death 
were all their lifetime subject to bondage." 

Xow, let me ask in what sense it was neces- 
sary for Jesus Christ to die in order that he 
might destroy the devil that had the power of 
death (evidently referring to the same devil that 
induced sin and death in the Garden of Eden). 
Was it necessary that Christ should die in order 
that the devil might be blotted out of existence, 
and in that way be destroyed? No ; that might 
have been done without the death of Christ 
Was it necessary that Chi^st should die in order 
that the devil might be endlessly punished in 
hell? No; that, possibly, might have been 
done if Christ had not died (or to the extent 
that it would have resulted in their destruction). 
In what sense, then, was it necessary that Christ 
should die in order that he might destroy the 
devil ? In this sense, and in this sense only, as 
I can conceive : In order that the devil might 
be converted from a devil into a saint, and in 
that way be no longer a devil. 

Now, it is conceded on all hands by t 
who profess to be orthodox, that all wicked men 
and women are children of the devil, and con- 
sequently are young devils in a spiritual 



14 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

and they also concede that these young devils 
may be converted into saints, and when this is 
done, there is one saint more and one devil less ; 
one devil actually destroyed by the regenerating 
power of the death of Christ, and one sinner 
saved. But when we ask them to admit that 
this regenerating power of the death of Christ 
shall continue to be exercised until this partic- 
ular devil spoken of in the text, with all the 
rest of them, shall in this way be destroyed, 
then they stagger at the promises of God, for- 
getting that Paul says he is '-'able to subdue all 
things unto himself.*' (Phil. iii. 21.) But 
with reference to those spoken of in the fifteenth 
verse, I would just say that it can not refer to 
those who die forgiven, for as soon as a man's 
sins are forgiven he has no fear of death. And 
hence the language of the Psalmist in the 23d 
Psalm : "'Though I walk through the valley of 
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil," etc. 
This passage, therefore, evidently refers to those 
who die in sin, who are to be delivered; the 
sinner is all his lifetime subject to bondage 
through the fear of death. But I fancy I hear 
some one say, your arguments appear to be 
plausible. But will you be kind enough to 
answer some such objections as the following? 
(Matt. xxv. 46): "And these shall go away 
into everlasting punishment : but the righteous 
into life eternal;" or as in the Greek, into lone 
punishment, but the righteous into lone life. 
This word in this place, as in many other 
places, is translated everlasting. This word is 



A BRIEF TREATISE O.N THEOLOGY. la 

also frequently applied in the Scriptures to 
things that have had and will have an end. For 
example, the priesthood of Aaron is called an 
••everlasting priesthood." (Exod. xl. 15.) Also 
••everlastinghiils/' (Gen. xlix. 25. J (Gen. xvii.8): 
"The land of Canaan for an everlasting posses- 
sion."' In all these, and many other places that may 
be found, the word everlasting does not mean end- 
less duration, but only a limited period. For 
example, the priesthood of Aaron has long since 
ceased, it being superseded by the priesthood 
of Christ, who was not made a priest after the 
order of Aaron, but after the order of Melchise- 
dek, and that was after the power of an endless 
life. (The word endless is only once more 
found in the Scriptures, and then it is applied 
to genealogies.) In what sense, then, was the 
priesthood of Aaron everlasting? In the 
sense that it lasted until the end was accom- 
plished for which it was designed, which was to 
offer up typical offerings, or sacrifices, pointing 
to Christ, the great antitype, which should come 
at the end of the Jewish world or age, and offer 
himself once for all for the sins of the whole 
world ; and when that was done the priesthood 
of Aaron ceased, there being no more need for 
it. the end having been accomplished for which 
it was destined. 

So with the everlasting punishment ; when 
the end is accomplished for which it is designed, 
which is the subjugation of the rebellious, like 
the priesthood of Aaron, it will cease, there 
being no more need for it. And in this way all 



16 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

these words, such as forever and forever and 
ever, may be reconciled with the doctrine of the 
final restitution of all things. But, says one, 
what will you do with the unpardonable sin. 
that hath never forgiveness neither in this world 
or in the world to come ? Well, this, to many, 
has seemed an insurmountable objection to the 
doctrine of the final holiness and happiness of 
all of God's intelligent creatures, although this 
doctrine is as clearly taught all through the 
Bible as tongue can express it. And when this 
is the case, we must find some solution of this 
question that will harmonize with the whole 
tenure of the Scriptures. And I think the fol- 
lowing will sufficiently explain the unpardon- 
able sin in harmony with .the Scriptures and 
with reason. For example, I have a son, and I 
give him a command, and he disobeys that com- 
mand; I then call him to account for his dis- 
obedience. The penalty was that he should be 
whipped if he disobey. But he now comes 
to me and says that be is sorry and repents. I 
then forgive him by suspending the penalty. I 
then charge him not to do so any more, or I 
will whip him.. He promises fidelity, but again 
disobeys my command. I again call him to ac- 
count, but again he repents, and I forgive him 
as before. But now I say to him, if you ever 
do so again I will never forgive you as I have 
done before, but will certainly whip you. The 
boy repeats the same act again. I again call 
him to account as before. He again says I re- 
pent and am sorry ; I hope you will forgive me. 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOCir. 17 

But I say, ho, sir ; you have committed the un- 
pardonable sin, and I am determined to whip 
you now, as I said I certainly would. I them 
whip him severely. Did I forgive him the last 
time as I did the two first times ? I don't think 
that the boy would say that I did, and yet is 
that any reason why I should whip the boy al- 
ways? I certainly think not. This view will 
harmonize with the general tenure of the Scrip- 
tures, while the popular view will not, and, 
therefore, I think the popular view unjust. 

But I hear one say, I would like to know how 
you can harmonize the teaching of Christ aa 
found in the gospel as recorded by St. Luke, 
sixteenth chapter, and from the nineteenth verse 
to the close of the chapter — where Christ speaks 
of a certain rich man who fared sumptuously 
every day, and of a certain beggar named Laz- 
arus, which was laid at the rich man's gate, 
with no one apparently to administer to his 
comfort but the dogs that are said to have licked 
his sores. (And yet he had a friend with hint 
that sticketh closer than a brother.) This beg- 
gar, after awhile, died (and without any funeral 
display, perhaps, was buried). If there was 
any funeral song sung, perhaps it was this : 

Battle his bones 
Over th 3 stones, 
He's only a pauper, 
• Whom nobody owns. 

But it is said that he was carried by angekl 
into Abraham's bosom (or to the place where 
believers go, Abraham being the father of be- 
2 



18 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

lievers). And it is said that the rich man also 
died and was buried, intimating clearly that 
there was a great deal of display at his funeral, 
as is common at the funerals of rich men now. 
But it is said that in hell he lifted up his eyes. 
being in torments. (This, perhaps, was true 
sometime before they got through with the cer- 
emonies of the burial.) But it is said that when 
he lifted up his eyes that he saw Lazarus afar 
off in Abraham's bosom. And he cried out, 
and said, '-Father Abraham, have mercy on me, 
and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of 
his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am 
tormented in this flame.'' 

It seems that he would have been satisfied 
with a very little comfort, but it was out of his 
reach, and from this we may learn that hell is 
no place to go for comfort, and, therefore, we 
should fearfully dread it and carefully avoid it. 

But Abraham said, "Son, remember (oh, what 
a remembrance must then have been called up !) 
that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good 
things, and likewise Lazarus evil things ; but 
now he is comforted and thou art tormented. 
And beside all this, between us and you there 
is a great gulf fixed, so that they that would 
pass from hence to you can not, neither can they 
pass to us, that would come from thence. ' 

Now, from the above we discover the utterly 
helpless and comfortless condition of thoSe who 
are in hell, and the utter inability of those who 
are ia heaven to comfort or deHver those that 
are in hell. But why is this so? Because of 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 19 

this great gulf or chasm between the righteous 
and the wicked. But in what does this great 
gulf or chasm consist? It consists in a fitness 
to meet God and enjoy him forever, which alone 
can be found by accepting of Christ, who has 
the issues of life and of death. And hence he 
says to John (Rev. i. 18) : "I am he that liv- 
eth. and was dead ; and, behold, I am alive for 
evermore, Amen ; and have the keys of hell and 
of death.'' 

All, then, that is meant by this great gulf 
spoken of by Abraham is this, that he neither 
had the control of heaven or hell, but that the 
control was in the hands of another, and, there- 
fore, he could not grant the request of the rich 
man in hell. 

But Christ tells John, as above, that he has 
the keys of hell and of death. He can shut, 
and no man can open ; he can open, and no man 
can shut ; and hence Christ, in his sermon on 
the mount, as in Matt, v. 25, says, "Verily I say 
unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out 
thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farth- 
ing." This means, I think, that neither Abra- 
ham nor Lazarus shall have power to turn out, 
nor yet to administer^ comfort to him, till he 
has paid the uttermost farthing. 

Now, if Christ had said thou shalt by no 
means come out thence, and not added, ''till 
thou hast paid the uttermost farthing," I should 
then conclude that there was no chance left to 
pay the debt, and consequently the wicked 
would have to remain in hell alwa} T s ; but a* it 



20 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY', 

is, there is the clearest indication that when the 
debt is paid that there will be a release. But 
what) do we owe God ? Did you ever think of 
it that God nowhere says, "Son, give me so much 
punishment, suffering or anguish?" But he 
does say, "Son, give me thy heart. 7 ' Again, 
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
thy heart.'' We then owe God no punishment, 
but we owe him love, respect and obedience, 
although it seems necessary sometimes to employ 
punishment as a means to make us pay him 
that respect and reverence that we owe him. 
This doctrine is clearly taught in the twelfth 
chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, where 
it is said, "'Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, 
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth,'' 
etc., showing clearly the object of punishment 
to be corrective in its nature. But, says one, 
can you show a single instance where God in 
this way affected a reformation? I answer, 
yes ; I can refer you to the case of Jonah, wh@ 
for his disobedience to God's command was 
cast into hell and out of the belly of hell. He 
cried, and the Lord heard him, and answered 
him with a deliverance when he had paid the 
last farthing, or when he had fully given up to 
obey God in going to preach to Nineveh. Here, 
too, is one that was in hell forever, although it 
was only three days and three nights, the 
shortest period to which the word forever is ap^ 
plied in the Scriptures that I know of; but cer- 
tainly it must have been a long time to be in a 
whale's belly, or in hell, as Jonah calls it, S$ 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 21 

that you see that the word forever, or the words 
forever and ever, frequently only mean a tedious 
and indefinite period of time, and do not neces- 
sarily rneun endless duration. 

But, says another, Jonah was not dead. No, 
not dead to sensibility and pain, but he was 
dead, and buried, too, to all that was outside of 
the whale's belly, just as much as the antedilu- 
vians were dead, to whose spirits Christ preached 
while in the prison-house of hell, as referred 
to by St. Peter (1 Peter iii. 19, 20). In this 
passage, too, we not only have clearly shown the 
conscious state of the spirits of the dead, but 
that Christ also seeks their reformation by 
preaching the^ospel to them, as in the fourth 
chapter and sixth verse of this same Epistle, in 
the following language : "For, for this cause 
was the gospel preached also to them that are 
dead, that they might be judged according to 
men in the flesh, but live according to God in 
the spirit." 

But, says another, can you refer to any others 
who have been cut off in their sins that will be 
restored to favor with God ? I answer, yes. I 
will now refer you to the sixteenth chapter 
of Ezekiel, where you will find that the Jews 
of whom Christ says, '-That if ye believe not 
that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." They 
did not believe in him, and, therefore, did die 
in their sins. And also the Sodomites that God 
destroyed for their wickedness by the raining of 
fire and brimstone upon them. And also the 
Samaritans shall be brought into favor with C*od, 



22 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

again. I would advise } r ou to read this whole 
chapter carefully, and especially from the forty- 
sever* th verse to the close of the chapter. I 
will now refer you first to the fifty -third verse, 
which reads as follows : "When I shall bring again 
their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her 
daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her 
daughters, then will I bring again the captivity 
of thy captives in the midst of them : that thou 
mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be 
confounded in all that thou hast done, in 4;hat 
thou art a comfort unto them. When thy sisters, 
Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their 
former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall 
return to your former estate" (which you will 
remember was a favorable estate as when Abra- 
ham and Lot dwelt with their great herds in the 
land of Canaan, on the plains of Jordan). I 
now quote from the sixtieth verse to the close of 
the chapter : -'Nevertheless. I will remember my 
covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, 
and I will establish unto thee an everlasting 
covenant. Then thou shall remember thy ways, 
and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy 
sisters, thine elder and thy younger : and I will 
give them unto thee for daughters, but not by 
thy covenant. And I will establish my cove- 
nant with thee ; and thou shalt know that I 
am the Lord : that thou mayest remember, and 
be confounded, and never open fchy mouth any 
more because of thy shame, when I am pacified 
toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith 
the Lord God." St. Paul speaks of this same 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 23 

covenant in his Epistle to the Hebrews (viii. 
10-12; : For this is the covenant that I will 
make with the house of Israel after those days, 
saith the Lord ; I will put my laws into their 
mind, and write them in their hearts : and I 
will be to them a God, and they shall be to me 
a people : and they shall not teach every man 
his neighbor, and every man his brother, say- 
ing, Know the Lord : for all shall know me, 
from the least to the greatest. For I will be 
merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins 
and their iniquities will I remember no more."' 
But, do I hear one inquire whether all the 
Jews that ever have lived, or ever will live, will 
finally be converted and saved through Christ 
their rejected King? To this inquiry I would 
answer, yes. For so it is again foretold by the 
Prophet Ezekiel in the thirty-seventh chapter 
of his prophecy, where he speaks of the valley 
of dry bones, and where the bones are caused to 
live and ' 'stand upon their feet, an exceeding great 
army.'' God says to the prophet, - These bones 
are the whole house of Israel (not a part of 
them): behold, they say, Our bones are dried, 
and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our 
parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, 
Thus saith the Lord God : Behold, my peo- 
ple, I will open your graves, and cause you to 
come up out of your graves, and bring you into 
the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I 
am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, 
my people, and brought you up out of your 
graves, and shall put my Spirit in you, and ye 



24 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

shall live, and I shall place you in your own 
land : then shall ye know that I the Lord have 
spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord." 

Here you discover that the very Jews that 
delivered Christ to the Romans to be crucified 
uneondemned, not knowing what they did, will 
finally be saved and enjoy eternal life, for John 
says (xvii. 3) : "And this is life eternal, that 
they might know thee the only true God, and 
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." But, my 
friend, says one, we have been taught by our 
preachers for a great many years that sin and its 
wages, which is death, will exist as long as God 
and eternity shall exist, and are you not after 
all mistaken in teaching us this new doctrine, 
as it seems, although we admit you furnish a 
great deal of scriptural proof for the doctrine? 
If I am, my friend, then Paul, the great apostle 
to the Gentiles, was in the same condition, for 
he says, in writing to his son Timothy, Sec- 
ond Epistle, first chapter and tenth verse, that 
"Christ hath abolished death, and hath brought 
life and immortality to light through the gospel." 
And also the Lord must have made an improper 
revelation to St. John, as found in Rev. xxi. 4, 5, 
for it is there said that "God shall wipe away all 
tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more 
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall 
there be any more pain : for the former things 
are passed away. And he that sat upon the 
throne said, Behold, I make (or have made) 
all things new. And he said unto me, Write : 
for those words are true and faithful." I am, 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 25 

therefore, more inclined to believe them than I 
am inclined to believe your preachers that have 
been contradicting these faithful and true say- 
ings. 

I will now, in bringing this subject to a 
close, although I might refer the reader to thou- 
sands of other proof-texts upon this subject, but 
I admit it unnecessary, but will now refer you 
to one in which the whole matter is seen to cul- 
minate. This you may find in Paul's First 
Epistle to the Corinthians (xy. 22-28) : "For 
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all 
be made alive. But every man in his own 
order (here are three orders in point of time, 
not in point of condition) : Christ the first-fruits 
(and you know the first-fruits always represent 
the whole harvest) ; afterward they that are 
Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, 
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to 
God, even the Father; when he shall have put 
down all rule, and all authority and power. For 
he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under 
his feet. The last enemy shall be destroyed 
death. (Or, if you should transpose this last 
sentence, it would read thus : death, the last 
enemy, shall be destroyed.) For he hath put all 
enemies under his feet. But when he saith, All 
things are put under him, it is manifest that he is 
excepted, which did put all things under him. 
(Here God the Father, that brought all to submit 
to Christ his Son, is the only being excepted in the 
universe as not being in subjection to his Son.) 
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, 



26 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY, 

then shall the Son also himself be subject unto 
him that put all things under him, that God 
may be all in all." Here two things must take 
place before the third thing can take place. 
First, all must be subdued unto Christ, and 
Christ himself become subject to the Father 
that put all things under him, before God can 
be all in all. In other words, all must be in 
Christ and Christ in God, which makes God to 
be all in all. And if any man can tell me how 
God can be all in all in any other way, I will 
forever renounce the doctrine of the final resti- 
tution of all things " which God hath spoken by 
the mouth of all his holy prophets since the 
world began." (Acts iii. 21.) 

I thought that I had closed the testimony in 
this case, but I just now think of one more 
very remarkable passage of Prophecy as,quoted 
by the Saviour himself, in the third of Luke, 
and 5-6 th verses : 

"Every valley shall be filled, and every 
mountain and hill be brought low*; and the 
crooked shall be made straight, and the rough 
ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall 
see the salvation of God." 

Now the above language is evidently figura- 
tive, it certainly does not mean that every 
valley shall be filled, and that every mountain 
and hill shall be digged down, but that this shall 
be so spiritually, as seen in the sixth verse ; 
that all flesh shall see the salvation of God. 
But what is meant by all flesh seeing the salva- 
tion of God? I answer that the very same 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY, 27 

thing is taught in this saying, that Christ 
taught Nieodenius, when he said: Except a 
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom 
of God. But what is it to be born again? It 
is in its nature and effect this: If the person 
needing this new birth has been low, degraded 
and debauched, it effects his elevation from this 
low condition, and in this way his valley is filled. 
If he has been haughty and self-exalted as a 
mountain, or even as a hill, he will be brought 
low by the new birth; just low enough to reach 
the grand plain of love and humility, to which 
the other has been exalted. And hence we see 
that not only some shall in this way be elevat- 
ed, or brought down as the case may be; but, 
every one shall be, clearly showing that all shall 
be born of God, and in this way enter into the 
kingdom of heaven. 

Having now closed our treatise upon this 
subje t, we wish next to invite your attention to 
one of the most perplexing subjects, to those 
who are unacquainted with it, that theologians 
and critics have had to contend with in the 
study of theology, for several of the past cen- 
turies. 



Second. — The difficult subject of the genealogy 
of Christ explained 

I refer to the genealogy of Christ, as submit- 
ted in the first chapter of Matthew, and in the 
third of Luke. In Matthew's account of this 
matter, he says : And so all the generations 



28 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

from Abraham to David are fourteen genera- 
tions. And from David to the carrying away into 
Babylon, were fourteen generations. And from 
the carrying away into Babylon to Christ, are 
fourteen generations. Which would make in 
all, forty-two generations. But critics and 
theologians have usually been able to find but 
forty-one. And hence. Mr. Adam Clarke, who 
in his commentary acknowledges this subject to 
be one of the most difficult that theologians 
have had to contend with. Yet in his comment- 
ary he undertakes to supply this deficiency of 
one generation which he, with many others, 
suppose they have found; and to do this he 
goes back into the Old Testament to look for 
this missing man whom he supposes divine in- 
spiration to have overlooked, or who some way 
had been left out. (But I am happy to inform 
you that the mistake was with Mr. Clarke, and 
not the fault of inspiration). Again Mr. Barnes, 
a Presbyterian writer I believe, undertakes to 
supply the same difficulty which he imagines 
that he has discovered (although like Adam 
Clarke and many others, is in error himself) by 
counting David twice, the last of one fourteen, 
and the first of the other ; and then to keep up 
a kind of show of fairness, he again counts I 
think Jechonias twice, and in this way he gets 
one too many, so that he has to throw one over- 
board, which makes the last error to be worse 
than the first. In Matthew's account also, the 
descent is said to have been through Solomon 
the son of David. And Jacob is said to have 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY, 29 

begotten Joseph, the husband of Mary. In the 
account given by Luke in the third chapter, the 
number of generations are fifty-six, fourteen 
more than Matthew claims, and fifteen more 
than critics and theologians have generally been 
able to find. And the descent is said to have 
been through Nathan, another son of David; 
and Joseph the husband of Mary, is said to 
have been the son of Heli. It has been diffi- 
cult therefore for theologians to reconcile these 
two accounts with each other, and to know how 
the descent could be through Solomon and 
Nathan both, both being the sons of David; 
and how Joseph the husband of Mary, could be 
the son of Jacob and the son of Heli both. 
The first time that my attention was called 
particularly to this subject, was by a profound 
infidel, who confounded me the most completly 
that I ever was confounded in my life, by pre- 
senting to me this subject as I have presented 
it above. And I searched in vain for about ten 
years to find from the teachings of men, a solu- 
tion of this matter. When finally in my ex- 
tremity, I concluded that it was barely possible 
that there was still a mistake in the count. I 
then resolved to count the generations again in 
the most particular manner. And in order to 
do this, I took my old book and went into a 
place of retirement, and in a very prayerful 
mood I can assure you I commenced this matter 
of counting again by putting a figure to each 
man's name, thus: Abraham 1, Isaac 2, Jacob 
3, Judas 4, and so on until I supposed I had 



30 A BRIEF TREATISE ON TilEOLOUY. 

thein all counted again, which still only made 
forty-one generations, I then felt more than 
ever perplexed with the matter. Thought I to 
myself, is it possible that this matter cannot be 
understood, when all at once it rushed into my 
mind with powerful force like this: Jacob 
begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom 
Christ was born. Of whom was Christ born? 
Of Mary. Of whom dd He partake the flesh- 
ly nature? Of Mary his mother. No living 
being on earth had anything to do with it but 
Mary. It would not be proper to count God 
his Father as one generation, because he partook 
of the divine nature from God his Father, and 
of the fleshly nature from his mother Mary. I 
then marked Mary 41, and that brought Christ 
out 42, just as claimed by Matthew. We had 
all been leaving out the most important link in 
the chain, which was Mary. With a moment's 
reflection every one must concede that every 
child partakes in part at least of its fleshly 
nature from its mother, no matter who may be 
its father. And the record in this case denying 
that Joseph was the father of Christ. But that 
God was his Father would make him partake 
entirely of the fleshly nature from Mary his 
mother. And now my explanation of this 
whole matter is this : 

Matthew gives the genealogy of Joseph 
simply for the purpose of showing that Mary 
his wife was of that stock, it being an unlawful 
thing for the Jews to marry among the gentiles, 
and proving Joseph to be of that stock proved 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 31 

Mary his wife to be of the same stock. And 
Joseph descends through Solomon just as 
Matthew says he did, and is the natural son of 
Jacob just as Matthew says he was. While 
Luke gives the genealogy of Mary only in legal 
form, commencing with her husband's name in- 
stead of her name. Or in this manner in the 
third of Luke: And Jesus himself began to be 
about 30 years of age, (being as was supposed the 
son of Joseph), which was the son of Heli. I 
have written on the margin of my old book this 
comment. Being the son of Mary, which was 
the daughter of Heli. Joseph the sou-in-iaw of 
Heli ; and Mary descends through Nathan the 
son of David, while her husband Joseph de- 
scends through Solomon ; and there are fourteen 
more generations in her genealogy than there 
are in Joseph's and in this way the two are 
reconciled the one with the other. ^ 



Third. — The object or design and mode of 
water baptism explained. 

I wish in the next place to present to the 
reader in as brief a manner as possible the de- 
sign or object of water Baptism, and the mode 
or manner of performing it : 

1st. Then the object or design of Baptism. 
and I would say just at this point, that not- 
withstanding the many books that have been 



32 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

written upon this subject and the many discus- 
sions that have been held both public and 
private, there is still more ignorance in the 
world with reference to the true nature and 
object of Baptism than any other subject con- 
nected with the Christian religion. I will now 
state that the object or design of water Baptism 
is first, to show by a figure that spiritually we 
have died to sin and hence we are buried by 
Baptism, indicating by this burial our 
spiritual death to sin, and after we have thus 
been buried by Baptism, we are then raised up 
from this burial, thus indicating our spiritual 
resurrection from a death in sin to a new life in 
Christ. And in the third place it is designed 
to show by the same figure our faith in the doc- 
trine of the resurrection of the body. And 
hence as we are now buried by Baptism, so we 
expect our bodies to be buried when we die, and 
as we are now raised up from this watery grave, 
so we expect our -bodies will be raised from the 
dead, and in this way our salvation is shown 
complete, soul and body, by the one figure called 
Baptism, if the figure is a proper one which 
must be a burial and resurrection. The Scrip- 
tural authority for this form or mode, may be 
found in Paul to the Romans (vi chapter, iv 
verse), where Paul plainly tells how it is done, 
by saying that we are buried by Baptism, or 
transposing it, by Baptism we are buried. 
Wherein also, ye are risen, (Cor. ii. 12.) Showing 
that there must be a burial and resurrection to 
constitute Baptism proper, and you cannot have 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 33 

Baptism without both. And hence we refuse 
to employ the term immersion to express Bap- 
tism And the reason why the children of 
Isreal are said to have been all baptized unto 
Moses in the cloud, and in the sea, as in Paul 
to the Cor. (1st Epistle, x. 2), is because they 
were all first intombed by means of the cloud 
and sea, and were all brought up out of the sea 
and from under the cloud, and in this way they 
all had a burial and resurrection which alone 
can constitute water Baptism. But Peter says 
that it is the answer of a good conscience 
toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 
In other words, it is a good conscience speaking 
by a figure, and if the figure be proper, it says 
that I received this good conscience through 
the burial and resurrection of Christ, which 
this baptismal burial and resurrection is intend- 
ed to represent, as well as my spiritual death to 
sin and my resurrection to a new life in Christ, 
and the resurrection of my body as well, when 
it shall be raised to immortality. 



Fourth. — The object of the communion, and 
the ordinance of washing one another s feet 
explained. 

Next on the communion and feet washing; 
and I shall make very few remarks on the com- 
munion, as pretty much all agree as to the 
3 



34 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

object of the communion. And hence I will 
just say t ] at it is designed as a figure, pointing 
back to the crucifixion of Christ as sacrificial 
offerings made before his crucifixion pointed 
forward to it. 

But as the ordinance of washing the 
saint's feet has been much neglected of late, I 
wish if possible to impress the reader with its 
importance in as few words as possible : 

In the thirteenth chapter of John, it is said 
by the Savior after he had washed his disciples' 
feet, and had taken his garments and sat down : 
He said, know ye what I have done to you ? 
But they were too profoundly astonished to 
rttempt an answer to this question. That their 
Lord and Master should stoop down and wash 
the feet of His own servants, was more than 
they could understand, it being so different 
from any custom among the Jews, that instead 
of the servant washing the Master's feet as was 
the custom among the Jews, that their Lord and 
Master in this case, should stoop down and 
wash His own servants' feet. 

But the Savior afterwards explains this 
matter by saying: Ye call me Master and 
Lord, and ye say well, for so I am. If 
I then, your Lord and Master, have washed 
your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's 
feet. For I have given you an example that ye 
should do as I have done to you. Verily, veri- 
ly, I say unto you, the servant is not greater 
than his Lord ; neither he that is sent, greater 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 35 

than he that sent him. If ye know these 
things, happy are ye if ye do them. 

But what is the purpose or design of this 
ordinance? 

That each disciple of Christ may take upon 
them the form or profession of a servant. 
Not that the feet are dirty and need to be 
washed but that you, by this form, say that 
henceforth you are going to live a life of humil- 
ity, and be willing to be a servant of all, rather 
than lord of all. I will now bring this little 
treatise to a close, with the prayer that God in 
his infinite goodness, may bless what I have 
written according to his will, and that the read- 
er may be enabled to detect anything that may 
not be in harmony with truth and righteousness. 

My dear reader, I thought I had finished this 
little work, but last night, Feb. 22d, 1881, I 
had presented to me the following subject, in a 
night vision, as one that I should present to the 
public, and especially to the religious public; 
to warn them of the fearful judgments with 
which God has determined to destroy Modern 
Babylon, or the present confused state of re- 
ligion controlled by a dominant priesthood. 
These judgments are even now at the doors. 

The subject to which I refer, reads as fol- 
lows: 



36 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

Fifth. — Of the signs of the times, indicating the 
very near approach of the most fearful 
judgments spoken of in the prophecy of Zeph- 
aniah, the last chapter, eighth and ninth 
verses. Also embracing a very choice col- 
lection of hymns and spiritual songs, nine of 
which were composed by the author. 

" Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, 
until the day that I rise up to the prey; for 
my determination is to gather the nations, that 
I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon 
them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; 
for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire 
of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the 
people a pure language, that they may all call 
upon the name of the Lord, to seive him with 
one consent.*' 

The reader it seems to me cannot fail to dis- 
cover in the above passage, the direct reference 
to our present mixed and impure state of re- 
ligious language. Well may it be styled Baby- 
lon, on account of its confusion, and I wonder 
not at the present very rapid growth of Infidel- 
ity, when the world sees the disgusting pride 
and extreme worldly conformity of the fashion- 
able Churches, so that we are reminded of what 
was said of the Ancient Church, as in Isa, (xxviii. 
8.) '• That all tables are full of vomit and 
filthiness, so that there is no place clean." 

Think if you please of the horribly disgusting 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 37 

state of things, as presented by the above lang- 
uage. And yet disgusting as it appears, it even 
fails to present this matter with that horribly 
loathsome disgust with which it appears to the 
Lord and all his true followers. And on this 
account he has determined to cleanse the earth 
from this accursed and loathsome condition of 
sectarian pride and carnal priestcraft. And again 
introduce his own pure language of love and 
righteousness, from which the religious world has 
been led astray, by that ungodly old man of sin. 
The Pope of Rome, who sits in the temple, 
showing himself that he is God, by declaring 
himself infallible as God is infallible. (2 Thes. 
ii. 4.) It was him that interpreted that saying of 
Peter, (2 Peter i. 20.) "That no prophecy 
of the Scripture is of any private interpreta,- 
tion," to mean that no private member of the 
Church has a right to understand or interpret 
the Scriptures for themselves. And therefore 
they must have an educated priest to read and 
interpret the Scriptures for them. Whereas, 
Peter means no more nor less than this: That 
unless we have the same spirit that inspired the 
Prophets to write the Scriptures, we cannot 
properly understand or interpret them. But 
this spirit the Lord has promised to all his dis- 
ciples. When He says if I go not away, the 
comforter will not come, but if I go away I will 
send you the comforter, the spirit of truth, that 
shall guide you in the way of all truth. ' And 
when Mr. Pope or Priest, says that he alone has 
this spirit of truth ; or that he has it at all, he 



38 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

is as big a liar as the devil himself, whom he 
represents. But in this way the Romans have 
long since supplanted the Bible so far as their 
Church is concerned. And at present they are 
the meanest idolaters, and are more bloodthirsty 
than a set of heathens. And their sectarian 
daughters, who, like their old harlot mother, 
have rejected God and his word, by their un- 
godly human creeds and traditions of men, are 
little, if any better than the old mother. And 
this late ungodly display of the introduction of 
the devilish lesson leaves into the Sunday- 
schools, (I call them devilish because of the 
mixture of truth and falsehood together, for 
the purpose of deception, as the devil did in 
the Garden of Eden when he deceived our first 
parents,) seems to have outstripped the old 
mother in successfully supplanting the Bible. 
But the devil, through the agency of his hire- 
lings, was very subtle in this matter of supplant- 
ing the Bible among the Protestants, as well as 
among the Romans. So he did not give them a 
whole book of lesson leaves at first, for this he 
thought would be too presumptuous a move to 
make at first, and his design of priestcraft would 
be detected and defeated; but he very modestly 
and unpresumingly gave them a single leaf at 
first, as a kind of a feeler to see how it would 
take, not intimating in the slightest degree that 
that leaf was designed in a very short time to 
become a book and supplant the Bible as it has 
done already. 

But when I saw the first lesson leaf in a Sun- 



A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 39 

day-school, it at once occurred to me that what 
I have stated above was the secret design of 
them. And that point has been reached by the 
devil much sooner than I expected; so that at 
present they seem to have no use for the Bible, 
or Testament in the Sunday-school, their place 
being supplied not by the lesson leaf, but the 
lesson book, and a kind of newspaper called the 
Bible teacher. So that in this way they seem to 
have no more use for the Bible, and the spirit 
that inspired holy men of old to write it, than 
the Romans have ; and so they are going it blind 
under the dictation of a hireling priesthood, 
just as do the Romans. 

May God in his mercy preserve his people 
from the above delusions and priestcraft, is my 
most sincere prayer. 

I will now bring my brief treatise to a close, 
by adding to it the following gem of thought, 
which I humbly trust God will seal upon the 
hearts of all who may read this little work : 

It is conceded I believe by all, that our 
bottom lands along our streams of water, where 
from the surrounding hills the soil is continually 
being washed down, and deposited on the lands 
below, are the richest lands we have, and the 
most sought after ; and those who cultivate 
them judiciously are constantly growing rich. 
While those on the surrounding hills, though 
they may toil hard, are constantly growing 
poorer, while their soil is being washed down 
and deposited on the land o*' their rich neigh- 
bor in the valley. 



40 A BRIEF TREATISE ON THEOLOGY. 

But a religious truth very much like the 
above, is not so generally known, or understood, 
aud sought after. That those who live away 
down in the valley of humility, along side the 
streams of sorrow and affliction, where from the 
surrounding hills of pride and worldly confor- 
mity, the true riches finding no lodgment are 
swept down by the floods of persecution, and 
deposited on these valley homes. And although 
frequently submerging them with baptism, after 
baptism of sorrow and tears, yet the richest de- 
posits of grace are each time left with those 
valley homes, so that spontaneously (after the 
floods have subsided, and the clouds are gone 
under the general rays of the Sun of righteous- 
ness) there springs up a glorious crop, so that 
while those in the valley, that have sown in 
tears, are reaping in joy, those on the surround- 
ing hills of pride and worldly conformity, are 
feeding on the husks of pride and vanity. 

May God help us all to consider these things, 
is the prayer of your unworthy servant. 



A CHOICE SELECTION OF 

PsalmSjHymns and Spiritual Songs. 



l—A NEW SONG, C. M. 



COMPOSED AND SUNG BY A. G. CLEMENS. 



There is a God, all nature says — 

There is a God most high ; 
To him shall every knee be bowed, 

And every tongue shall vie. 

This God is love, and from above 

He looks with watchful eye. 
To take us from this world of sin 

To a blessed home on high. 

A home in heaven ! 0, happy lot ! 

Where pilgrims freed from care — 
A home in heaven ! hinder me not, 

For I am going there. 

Jesus, my great High Priest, has gone 

A place for to prepare. 
And when my work on earth is done, 

He'll come and take me there. 

I do believe, I now believe 

That Jesus died for me ; 
That he rose again, that he rose again, 

And ascended up on high. 

That he'll come again, that he'll come again, 

And take his people home : 
That he'll come again, that he'll come again, 

And take his people home. 



42 2— A NEW HYMN. 

SUITED TO THE L. M. 

Should I be a lawyer, I must cheat, 
Else lawyers think they could not eat; 
So hireling priests will whine and cry, 
Until they get their salaries high. 

And this to do, they'll say to you 
That sinners dear, they awfully fear, 
Without their priestly presence near, 
Must die and sink to dark despair. 

But would you know, the truth is so, 
That you may plead for man 'gainst man, 
And thus the wicked you may show 
In truth and justice how to go. 

And you, ye hirelings, ye should know 
That with the lawyers ye shall go ; 
As when the Judge of all was here, 
The hirelings then were full of fear. 

For when the wolf, He said, would come, 
The hirelings from the fold would run ; 
And thus the sheep would he divide, 
And catch the souls for whom Christ died- 

Oh! what a slaughter he has made! 
The dead in every church-house laid; 
The wounded here and there are found, 
But very few, alas ! are sound. 

O God ! how long shall these wild wolves 
In clothing like the lambs be found, 
And cry, peace, peace, to all around, 
But teach them* not the joyful sound! 

A. C. Clemens, Upper Sandusky, O. 



3— THE SOWERS AND REAPERS. 43 



0, WE are the sowers now coining in, 

To sow the seed in this world of sin ; 
With toil and care must the work be done — 
And no one find rest 'till the Lord shall come* 
We are the sowers, who sow the seed, 

That perishing sinners may have no need; 
O, who will help us, to harrow in 

The seeds of truth in this world of sim 

0, we will be reapers to gather in 

The sheaves of wheat from this world of sin; 
With sickles of truth must the work be done, 
And no one may rest till Lord shall come. 
We will be reapers, oh, who will come, 

And share in the glory of the harvest home; 
0, who will help us to garner in 

The sheaves of wheat from this world of sin. 

Come out in the byways, we'll search them all, 
The wheat may be there, tho' the weeds are tall ; 

There search in the highways we'll pass none by, 
But gather from all for the home on high. 
We will be reapers, etc. 

This world now is ripening and soon the cry: 
Go forth all my reapers from on high ; 

Bind up all the tares into bundles to burn, 
But bring all the wheat to the heavenly barn. 
We will be reapers, etc. 

Then bring now your sickles, ye sons of men, 

We'll gather together the golden grain ; 
Toil on till the sheaves of the Lord are bound, 
And joyfully borne from the harvest ground. 
We will be reapers, etc. 
A. C. Clemens, Upper Sandusky. O. 



44 



4— PILGRIM'S INVITATION. 



I'm a pilgrim and stranger, 

A wand'ring from home, 
While Jesus my Savior, 

Invites me to come 
To the glorious feast 

He has prepared above, 
And with his children 

Taste mercy and love. 

Why should I longer stay 

Away from my God, 
Since the path of humility 

My Savior hath trod. 
His way all may find, 

For the Lord our God is kind; 
He gives the poor relief, 

He heals the blind. 

0, yes, all the world may see 

The works he hath wrought. 
The pardon of our race 

On Calv'ry was bought. 
His cross now I'll bear 

And the blessed truth declare, 
That all who persevere, 

The crown shall wear. 

By A. C. Clemens, Upper Sandusky, 0. 



45 



5— THE TWENTY-THIRD PSALM IN 
POETRY. 



SUITED TO LONG METER. 



The Lord, my Shepherd, now I see, 
I shall not want, he feedeth me ; 
He feedeth me, he feedeth me, 
0, bless the Lord, he feedeth me. 

In the green pastures now I glee, 
For bless the Lord, he resteth me; 

He resteth me, he resteth me, 
0, bless the Lord, he resteth me. 

Beside still waters now I be, 

For bless the Lord, he leadeth me; 

He leadeth me, he leadeth me, 
0, bless the Lord, he leadeth me. 

The Lord my soul he doth restore, 
And feed with manna evermore ; 

Forevermore, forevermore, 
0, bless the Lord forevermore. 

For so the Lord he hath decreed 
In paths of righteousness to lead ; 

For his name's sake, for his name's sake, 
This covenant he'll never break. 

Through death's dark vale a passage free, 
My blessed Lord has vouched to me ; 

Has vouched to me, has vouched to me, 
0, bless the Lord, 'tis vouched to me. 



46 



Before mine en'niies now I see, 
A table richly spread for me; 

'Tis spread for me. 'tis spread for me, 
0, bless the Lord, 'tis spread for me. 

My head with oil thou dost anoint. 
And for my soul a place appoint; 

A place appoint, a place appoint, 
Beneath that flowing, bloody fount. 

Thy mercy, too. is still in view. 
And to life's end thou wilt defend ; 

Thou wilt defend, thou wilt defend, 
0, bless the Lord, thou wilt defend. 

Now to thy house will I resort. 
And come at last with good report. 

With good report, with good report. 
To thy great house not made with hands. 
By A. C. Clemens. Upper Sandusky, 0. 



<j__ CROQUET SONG, 



COMMON METER. 



To play crokay the hirelings say, 

Is not a heinous vice; 
To play crokay is a naughty way, 
But still it seems so nice ; 
But still it seems so nice, 
But still it seems so nice, 
Then play away, let the fogies say 
What e'er they will of vice. 
A. C. Clemens. Upper Sandusky, 0, 



47 



7— HOME OF CHILDHOOD. 



7S AND 6s. 



Home, the spot of childhood's play, 

Of cherished mem'ries past; 
But 0, those days have passed away, 

They do not always last. 
Should I be happy still at home 

My youth renewed must be; 
A child of Grod I must become 

When age and cares do flee. 

Home where dwelt my parents dear, 

But they from earth have passed, 
And sister one and brothers near 

Have gone with them to rest; 
But two remain of that small train, 

And we from earth must go, 
But if we're truly born again, 

We'll fear no future woe. 
By A. C. Clemens, Upper Sandusky, 0. 



8— Brother, thou was rude and naughty, 
Troubled like the raging sea; 
But the God of love hath brought thee 
In this quiet rest to be. 

Composed and sung by the author on the funeral oc- 
casioned of his son John. 



48 9— HYMN, 8s and 7s.. 



When the mists have rolled in splender, 

From the beauty of the hills, 
And the sunshine warm and tender, 

Falls in kisses on the rills; 
We may read love's shining letter in the rain- 
bow of the spray, 
We shall know each other better when the mists 
have cleared away. 

Cho. — Wt shall know as we are known, 
Never more to walk alone; 
In the dawning of the morning, 
When the mists have cleared away. 

If we are in human blindness, 

And forget that we are dust; 
If we miss the law of kindness, 
When we struggle to be just; 
Snowy wings of peace shall cover all the pain 

that hides away. 
Till the weary watch is ended and the mists have 

Cleared away. 
Cho. — We shall know, etc. 

When the mists have risen above us, 

As our Father knows his own ; 
Face to face with those that love us, 
We shall know as we are known ; 
Low beyond the orient meadows floats the 

golden fringe of day, 
Heart to heart we bide the shadows till the mists 

have cleared away. 
CHO. — We shall know, etc. 

Sung by the author's daughter Birdie when she was 
converted. 



49 
10— HE SAVES TO THE UTTERMOST, 

I was once far away from the Savior, 
And as vile as a sinner could be; 

I wondered if Christ, the Redeemer, 
Would save a poor sinner like me. 

I wandered on in the darkness, 

Not a ray of light could I see, 
And the thought filled my heart with sadness, 

There's no hope for a sinner like me. 

But there in that dark lonely hour, 
A voice sweetly whispered to me, 

Saying : "Christ, the Redeemer hath power" 
To save a poor sinner like thee. 

I listened, and lo, 'twas the Savior 
That was speaking so kindly to me, 

I cried: "I'm the chief of sinners, 

Thou canst save a poor sinner like me," 

I then fully trusted in Jesus; 

And 0, what a joy came to me! 
My heart was filled with his praises, 

For he saved a poor sinner like me. 

No longer in darkness I'm walking, 
For the light is now shining on me, 

And now unto others I'm telling, 
How he saved a poor sinner like me. 

And when life's journey is over, 
And I the dear Savior shall see, 

I'll praise him forever and ever, 
For saving a sinner like me. 



50 1 1— HYMN, 7s & 6s. 



Hail to the Lord's anointed! 

Great David's greater Son; 
Hail, in the time appointed, 

His reign on earth begun! 
He comes to break oppression, 

To set the captive free ; 
To take away transgression, 

And rule in equity. 

He comes with succor speedy, 

To those who suffer wrong, 
To help the poor and needy, 

And bid the weak be strong: 
To give them songs for sighing, 

Their darkness turn to light, 
Whose souls, condemned and dying 

Were precious in his sight. 

By such shall he be feared 

While sun and moon endure — 
Beloved, obeyed, revered: 

For she shall judge the poor, 
Through changing generations, 

With justice, mercy, truth, 
While stars maintain their stations, 

Or moons renew their youth. 

He shall come down like showers, 

Upon the fruitful earth, 
ind love, joy, hope, like flowers, 

Spring in his path to birth : 
Before him on the mountains, 

Shall Peace the herald go ; 
And righteousness in fountains 

From hill to valley flow. 



PART SECOND. 51 

1£— HYMN, 7s & 6s. 

Arabia's desert-ranger, 

To him shall bow the knee; 
The Ethiopian stranger 

His glory come to see : 
With offerings of devotion, 

Ships from the isles shall meet, 
To pour the wealth of ocean 

In tribute at his feet. 

Kings shall fall down before him, 

And gold and incense bring; 
All nations shall adore him, 

His praise all people sing: 
For he shall have dominion 

O'er river, sea and shore, 
Far as the eagle's pinion 

Or dove's light wing can soar. 

For him shall prayer unceasing, 

And daily vows, ascend ; 
His kingdom still increasing, 
* A kingdom without end: 
The mountain dews shall nourish 

A seed in weakness sown, 
Whose frost shall spread and nourish, 

And shake like Lebanon. 

O'er every foe victorious, 

He on his throne shall rest, 
From age to age more glorious, 

All-blessing and all-blest; 
The tide of time shall never 

His covenant remove; 
His name shall stand forever; 

That name to us is — Love 



52 13-HYMN, C. M. 



Jestjs, the name high over all, 

In hell, or earth, or sky ! 
Angels and men before it fall, 

And devils fear and fly. 

Jesus, the name to sinners dear, 
The name to sinners given ! 

It scatters all their guilty fear : 
It turns their hell to heaven. 

Jesus the prisoner's fetters breaks, 

And bruises Satan's head; 
Power into strengthless souls it speak, 

And life into the dead. 

that the world might taste and see 

The riches of his grace; 
The arms of love that compass me, 

Would all mankind embrace. 

His only righteousness I show, 
His saving truth proclaim: 

'Tis all my business here below, 
To cry, "Behold the Lamb!" 

Happy, if with my latest breath 

I may but gasp his name ! 
Preach him to all, and cry in death, 

Behold, behold the Lamb ! 

M— HYMN, L. M. 



Shall I, for fear of feeble man, 
The Spirit's course in me restrain? 
Or, undismay'd in deed and word, 
Be a true witness of my Lord? 



53 



Aw'd by a. mortal's frown, shall I 
Conceal the word of God Most High ! 
How then before thee shall I dare 
To stand, or how thine anger bear? 

Shall I, to soothe th' unholy throng, 
Soften thy truth, or smoothe my tongue, 
To gain earth's gilded toys, or flee 
The cross-endur'd, my Lord, by thee? 

What then is he whose scorn I dread? 
Whose wrath or hate makes me afraid? 
A man ! an heir of death ! a slave 
To sin ! a bubble on the wave ! 

Yes, let men rage; since thou wilt spread 
Thy shadowing wings around my head, 
Since in all pain thy tender love, 
Will still my sure refreshment prove. 



15— HYMN, L. M. 

Go preach my Gospel, saith the Lord, 
Bid the whole world my grace receive. 

He shall be sav'd, that trusts my word ; 
He shall be damn'd that won't believe. 

I'll make your great commission known, 
And ye shall prove my Gospel true, 

By all the works that I have done. 
By all the wonders ye shall do. 

Teach all the nations my commands, 
"I'm with you till the world shall end; 

All power is trusted in my hands, 
I can destroy, and I defend.'' 



54 16-HYMN. 

I am so glad that our Father in heaven 
Tells of His love in the Book He has given J 
Wonderful things in the Bible I see; 
This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me. 
I am so glad that Jesus loves me, 
Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me, 
Jesus loves even me. 
Though I forget Him, and wander away, 
Still He doth love me wherever I stray; 
Back to His dear loving arms do I flee, 
When I remember that Jesus loves me. 

Oh, if there's only one song I can sing, 
When in His beauty I see the great King, 
This shall my song in eternity be, 
"Oh, what a wonder that Jesus loves me!" 

Jesus loves me, and I know I love Him ; 
Love brought Him down my poor soul to 

redeem ; 
Yes, it was love made Him die on the tree : 
Oh, I am certain that Jesus loves me ! 

If one should ask of me, how can I tell; 
Glory to Jesus 7 I know very well! 
God's Holy Spirit with mine doth agree, 
Constantly witnessing Jesus loves me. 

In this assurance I find sweetest rest, 
Trusting in Jesus, I know I am blest : 
Satan, dismayed, from my soul now doth flee, 
When I just tell him that Jesus loves me. 

When up to heaven in rapture I go, 
Then I will sing of my trials below; 
Unto him who hath washed and made me like 

snow, 
All this great glory and triumph I'll owe. 



17— HYMN. 55 

The great physician now is near, 

The sympathizing Jesus; 
He speaks the drooping heart to cheer : 
Oh, hear the voice of Jesus. 

Sweetest note in seraph song, 
Sweetest name on mortal tongue, 
Sweetest carol ever sung, 
Jesus, blessed Jesus. 

Your many sins are all forgiven ; 

Oh, bear the voice of Jesus : 
Go on your way in peace to heaven, 

And wear a crown with Jesus. 

All glory to the risen Lamb ! 

I now believe in Jesus : 
I love the blessed Saviour's name, 

I love the name of Jesus. 

His name dispels my guilt and fear, 

No other name but Jesus ; 
Oh, how my soul delights to hear 

The precious name of Jesus. 

Come, brethren, he! me sing His praise, 

Oh, praise the name of Jesus ; 
Come, sisters, all your voices raise, 

Oh, bless the name of Jesus. 

The children, too. both great and small, 

Who love the name of Jesus, 
May now accept the gracious call 

To work and live for Jesus. 

And when to that bright world above 

We rise to see our Jesus, 
Well sing around the throne of love 

His name, the name of Jesus. 



56 18 HYMN, S. M. 

And are we yet alive, 

And see each other's face? 
Glory and praise to Jesus give, 

For his redeeming grace! 
Preserv'd by power divine 

To full salvation here, 
Again in Jesus' praise we join, 

And in his sight appear. 

What troubles have we seen ! 

What conflicts have we past! 
Fightings without, and fears within, 

Since we assembled last; 
But out of all the Lord 

Hath brought us by his love ; 
And still he doth his help afford, 

And hide our lives above. 

Then let us make our boast 

Of his redeeming power, 
x Which saves us to the uttermost, 

Till we can sin no more: 
Let us take up the cross. 

Till we the crown obtain ; 
And gladly reckon all things loss, 

So we may Jesus gain. 



19— HYMN, C. M. 

Vain man, thy fond pursuits forbear; 

Repent, thy end is nigh; 
Death at the farthest can't be far: 

! think before thou die. 



57 



Reflect; thou hast a soul to save; 

Thy sins, how high they mount! 
What are thy hopes beyond thy grave? 

How stands the dark account? 

Death enters, and there's no defense; 

His time there's none to tell ; 
He'll in a moment call thee hence, 

To heaven, or down to hell. 

Thy flesh; perhaps thy greatest care, 
Shall crawling worms consume; 

But ah! destruction stops not there; 
Sin kills beyond the tomb. 



20— HYMN, 8s & 7s. 

Happy soul, thy days are ended, 

All thy mourning days below; 
Go, by angel guards attended, 

To the sight of Jesus go. 
Waiting to receive thy spirit, 

Lo ! the Savior stands ahpve ; 
Shows the purchase of his merit, 

Reaches out the crown of love. 

Struggle through thy latest passions. 

To thy great Redeemer's breast; 
To his uttermost salvation, 

To his everlasting rest. 
For the joy he sets before thee, 

Bear a momentary pain ; 
Die to live a life of glory ; 

Suffer, with thy Lord to reign. 



m «J— HYMN, 0. M. 



You-ag persons invited to seek and love Christ 

Ye hearts with youthful figure warm, 
In smiling crowds draw near; 

And turn from every mortal charm, 
A Savior's voice to hear. 

He, Lord of all the worlds on high, 
Stoops to converse with you ; 

And lays his radiant glories by, 
Your welfare to pursue. 

"The soul who longs to see my face, 

Is sure my love to gain ; 
And those who early seek my grace, 

Shall never seek in vain." 

What object, Lord, my soul should move. 

If once compared with thee? 
What beauty should command my love. 

Like what in Christ I see? 

Away, ye false delusive toys, 

Vain tempters of the mind ! 
Tis here I fix my lasting choice, 

And here true bliss I find. 



22— HYMN, L. M. 

The Golden Rule. 

Blessed Redeemer! how divine, 
How righteous is this rule of thine* 
To do all men just the same, 
As we expect or wish from them. 



59 



This golden lesson, short and plain, 
Gives not the mind or mein'ry pain; 
And ev'ry conscience must approve 
This universal law of love. 

How blest would ev'ry nation be, 
Thus rul'd by love and equity ! 
All would be friends without a foe, 
And form a paradise below. 

Jesus ! forgive us, that we keep 
Thy sacred law of love asleep ; 
No more let envy, wrath, and pride, 
But thy blest maxims be our guide. 



23— HYMN, C. M. 



Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear, 

My voice ascending high : 
To thee will I direct my prayer, 

To thee lift up mine eye. 

Up to the hills where Christ is gone, 

To plead for all his saints; 
Presenting at the Father's throne, 

Our songs and our complaints. 

may thy spirit guide my feet 
In ways of righteousness ! 

Make every path of duty straight, 
' And plain before my face. 

Now to thy house will I resort, 
To taste thy mercies there; 

1 will frequent thy holy court, 
And worship in thy fear. 



60 24— HYMN. C. M. 

Talk with us, Lord, thyself reveal, 
While here o'er earth we rove; 

Speak to our hearts, and let us feel 
The kindlings of thy love. 

With thee conversing, we forget 
All time, and toil, and care: 

Labor is rest, and pain is sweet. 
If thou, my God, art here. 

Here then, my God, vouchsafe to stay, 
And bid my heart rejoice; 

My bounding heart shall own thy sway, 
And echo to thy voice. 

Thou callest me to seek thy face ; 

'Tis all I wish to seek; 
T' to attend the whispers of thy grace, 

And hear thee inly speak. 

Let this my every hour employ, 

Till I thy glory see! 
Enter into my Master's joy, 

And find my heaven in thee. 



#5_HYMN. 



We are traveling, slowly traveling, 

To the narrow river shore ; 
As we near it, shall we fear it, 
Since our Savior's gone before. 
Cho, — Trav'ling homeward, trav'ling homeward, 
Gathering on that heav'nly shore; 
Blessed Savior may we ever 

Serve and praise thee and adore. 



61 



Many dear ones have crossed over, 
And they're going one by one ; 

Though it grieves us as they leave us, 
'Tis Savior's call, Come home. 
Cho. — Trav'ling homeward, etc, 

In thy service make us faithful, 

And when life's work here is done, 
Safely mansioned with the ransomed, 
Sing thy praise for victory won. 
CHO. — Trav'ling homeward, etc. 



26-HYMNS. 

Sister, thou was mild and lovely, 
Gentle as the summer breeze; 

Pleasant as the air of evening, 

When it flows among the trees, etc. 

Peaceful be thy silent slumber — 
Peaceful in the grave so low : 

Thou no more wilt join our number; 
Thou no more our songs shalt know. 

Dearest sister, thou hast left us ; 

Here thy loss we deeply feel ; 
But 'tis God that hath bereft us : 

He can all our sorrows heal. 

Yet again we hope to meet thee, 

When the day of life is fled, 
Then in heaven with joy to greet thee, 

Where no farewell tear is shed. 

Sung by the author when he was converted on the 
night of the 9th of February, 1842. 



62 27— THE PROSPECT JOYOUS, 

And let this feeble body fail, 

And let it faint or die : 
My soul shall quit the mournful vaie, 

And soar to worlds on high : 
Shall join the disembodied saints, 

And find its long-sought rest ; 
That only bliss for which it pants, 

In the Redeemer's breast. 

In hope of that immortal crown 

I now the cross sustain, 
And gladly wander up and down, • 

And smile at toil and pain : 
I suffer on my three -score years 

Till my Deliv'rer come, 
And wipe away his servant's tears, 

And take his exile home. 

what hath Jesus brought for me ! 
Before my ravished eyes 

Rivers of life divine I see, 
And trees of Paradise : 

1 see a world of spirits bright, 

Who taste the pleasures there ; 
They all are robed in spotless white, 
And conqu'ring palms they bear. 

what are all my suff 'rings here, 

If Lord, thou count me meet 
With that enraptured host t' appear, 

And worship at thy feet ! 
Give joy or grief, give ease or pain, 

Take life or friends away, 
But let me find them all again 

In that eternal dav. 



28-THE LAST CALL. 63 



Tis the last call of mercy 

That lingers for thee ; 
Oh ! sinner, receive it — 

To Jesus now flee ! 
He often has called thee. 

But thou hast refused ! 
His offered salvation 

And love, are abused ! 

If thou slightest this warning 

Now offered at last. 
Thine will be the sad mourning — 

"The harvest is past,'' 
Salvation I've slighted. 

The summer is o'er, 
And now there is pardon. 

Sweet pardon, no more. 

'Tis the last call of mercy, 

Oh, turn not away, 
For now swiftly hasteth 

The dread, vengeance day ! 
The Spirit invites you, 

x\nd pleads with you, Come ! 
Oh, come to Life's waters, 

Nor thirstingly roam ! 

'Tis the last call of mercy, 

Oh, steel not thy heart, 
For now she is rising 

From earth to depart ! 
The Bride is now calling — 

*-Ye thirsty souls, come! 
Oh, come with the ransomed, 

In heaven there's room !" 



64 29— JESUS CALLS ME. 

Jesus calls me ; I am going 

Where he opens up my way, 
To the toiling of his vineyard, 

Shrinking not a single day. 
Friends may shun me, toil await me, 

Care and sorrow be my lot ; 
But I've chosen Christ my Savior — 

I am going, call me not. 

Jesus calls me ; I am going 

To the life prepared for me, 
This poor world can't fill the aching 

Of my heart, or set it free. 
O what anxious, bitter sorrow, 

Does the world give with its strife ; 
But with Jesus — what glory ! 

Ending in eternal life. 

Jesus calls me ; I am going 

To the washing of his blood — 
Healing now and purifying 

All who test the crimson flood. 
Flesh may cry, Not now — to-morrow; 

Idols rise with wonted power; 
Jesus help me, come and help me ! 

Jesus take me hour by hour. 

Jesus calls me ; I am going ; 

Friends and neighbors come with me ; 
Hasten now and gain salvation, 

For the fountain's full and free ; 
Test the grace that Christ now offers ; 

Know the worth of this new life ; 
Bise to all the bliss immortal, 

Far above this world cf strife. 



30— TAKE MY BINS AWAY. 65 

A few more years shall roll, 

A few more seasons come ; 
And we shall be with those that rest, 

Asleep within the tomb : 
Then, my Lord, prepare 

My soul for that great day ; 
Oh, wash me in thy precious blood, 

And take my sins away. 

A few more storms shall beat 

On this wild, rocky shore ; 
And we shall be where tempests cease, 

And surges swell no more : 
Then, my Lord, prepare 

My soul for that calm day ; 
Oh, wash me in thy precious blood r 

And take my sins away. 

A few more struggles here, 

A few more partings o'er, 
A few more toils, a few more tears, 

And we shall weep no more : 
Then, my Lord, prepare 

My soul for that blest day ; 
Oh, wash me in thy precious blood, 

And take my sins away. 

A few more Sabbaths here 

Shall cheer us on our way, 
And we shall reach the endless rest, 

Th' eternal Sabbath-day; 
Then, my Lord, prepare 

My soul for that sweet day ; 
Oh, wash me in thy precious blood, 

And take my sins away. 



66 

'Tis but a little while, 

And lie shall come again, 
Who died that we might live, who lives 

That we may with him reign : 
Then, my Lord, prepare 

My soul for that glad day ; 
Oh, wash me in thy precious blood, 

And take my sins away. 



SI— JORDAN'S STRAND. 

My days are gliding swiftly by, 

And I a pilgrim stranger, 
Would not detain them as they fly, 

Though full of toil and danger. 

CHORUS. 

For, oh we stand on Jordan's strand, 

And soon we shall pass over ; 
And just before, the shining shore, 

We may almost discover. 

We'll gird our loins, my brethren, dear, 
Our distant homes discerning ; 

Our absent Lord has left us word, 
Let every lamp be burning. 

Should coming days be cold and dark, 
We need not cease our singing ; 

That perfect love nought can molest, 
Where golden harps are ringing. 

Let sorrow's rudest tempest blow, 

Bach cord on earth to sever, 
Our King says come, and there's our home 

Forever, oh, forever ! 



67 
3»-I COUNT ALL THINGS BUT LOSS. 

Jesus, I my cross have taken, 

All to leave and follow thee ; 
Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, 

Thou from hence my all shalt be. 
Perish every fond ambition, 
. All I've sought, or hoped, or known, 
Yet how rich is my condition — 

God and heaven are still my own. 

Let the world despise and leave me, 

They have left my Savior too ; 
Human hearts and looks deceive me, 

Thou art not, like them, untrue. 
And while thou shalt smile upon me, 

God of wisdom, love and might, 
Foes may hate, and friends disown me ; 

Show thy face and all is bright. 

Go then, earthly fame and treasure ; 

Come disaster, scorn, and pain ; 
In thy service pain is pleasure — 

With thy favor, loss is gain. 
I have called thee, Abba, Father, 

I have set my heart on thee ; 
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, 

All must work for good to me. 

Man may trouble and distress me, 

'Twill but drive me to thy breast; 
Life, with trials hard may press me, 

Heaven will bring me sweeter rest. 
Oh ! 'tis not in grief to harm me. 

While thy love is left to me ; 
Oh ! 'twere not in joy to charm me, 

Were that joy unmixed with thee. 



68 

Soul, then know thy full salvation ; 

Rise o'er sin, and fear, and care : 
Joy to find in every station 

Something still to do or bear : 
Think what Spirit dwells within thee ; 

Think what Father's smiles are thine ; 
Think that Jesus died to win thee ; 

Child of heaven, canst thou repine? 

Haste thee on from grace to glory, 

Armed by faith, and winged by prayer; 
Heaven's eternal days befcre thee, 

God's own hand shall guide thee there. 
Soon shall close thine earthly mission, 

Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days; 
Hope shall change to glad fruition, 

Faith to sight, and prayer to praise. 



33 HYMN. 



Far, far away, in the regions immortal, 

Jesus, our Savior waits us there; 
Waits to receive us at the pearly portals, 

With the shining angels in the air. 

Cho. — They are waiting for us there, 

They are waiting for us there, 

They are waiting for us there, 

In that happy land so bright and fair. 

There are our friends who have passed on before 
us, 

Waiting to bid us welcome there; 
Waiting with robes and crowns all victorious, 

In that happy land so bright and fair. 
Cho, — They are waiting, etc, 



69 

Oh, may we each one be r )ady to meet them, 
Meet in that sweet celestial clime ; 

Meet there to sing our Great Redeemer's praises, 
Meet to sing our Savior's love divine. 

Cho. — They are waiting, etc. 



34— THE ROYAL WAY OF THE CROSS. 

We may spread our couch with roses. 

And si ep through the summer day; 
But the soul that in sloth reposes, 

Is not in the narrow way. 
If we follow the chart that is given, 

We need not be at loss, 
For the royal way to heaven, 

Is the royal way of the Cross. 

To one who is reared in splendor, 

The cross is a heavy load ; 
And the feet that are soft and tender, 

Will shrink from the thorny road. 
But the chains of the soul must be riven, 

And wealth must be as dross ; 
For the royal way to heaven, 

Is the royal way of the Cross. 

We say we will walk to-morrow, 

The path we refuse to day ; 
And still, with our lukewarm sorrow, 

We shrink from the narrow way. 
What heeded the chosen eleven 

How the fortunes of life might toss ? 
As they followed their Master to heaven, 

By the royal way of the Cross. 



70 35— HYMN. 



Sweet hour of prayer ! sweet hour of prayer i 

That calls me from a world of care, 

And bids me at my Father's throne 

Make all my wants and wishes known : 

In seasons of distress and grief. 

My soul has often found relief. 

And oft escaped the tempter's snare, 

By thy return, sweet hour of prayer. 

Sweet hour of prayer ! sweet hour of prayer ! 
Thy wings ^hall my petition bear 
To Him whose truth and faithfulness 
Engage the waiting soul to bless; 
And since He bids me seek His face, 
Believe His word, and trust His grace, 
I'll cast on Him my every care. 
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer ! 

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! 

May I thy consolation share, 

Till, from Mount Pisgah's lofty height, 

I view my home and take my flight. 

This robe of flesh 1 11 drop, and rise 

To seize the everlasting prize; 

And shout, while passing through the air, 

"Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer. 



36— SINGING OF HEAVEN. 



Oh ! sing to me of heaven, 
When I am called to die ; 

Sing songs of holy ecstasy, 
To waft my soul on high. 



71 

Chorus. — There'll be no sorrow there. 
There'll be no sorrow there, 
In heave^ above, where all is love, 
There'll be no sorrow there. 

When cold and sluggish drops 

Roil off my marble brow. 
Break forth in songa of joy'f illness — 

Let heaven begin below. 

When the last moments come. 

Oh ! watch my dying face. 
To catch the bright seraphic gleam 

Which o'er my features plays. 

Then 'round my dying bed 

Assemble those I love, 
And sing of heaven, delightful heaven, 

My glorious home above. 

Then to my raptured ear 

Let one sweet song be given : 

Let music charm me last on earth, 
And greet me first in heaven. 



37— CONDEMNED, BUT PLEADING THE 
PROMISES. 

Show pity, Lord, Lord, forgive, 
Let a repenting rebel live. 
Are not thy mercies large and free ? 
May not a sinner trust in thee ? 



72 

My crimes are great, but don't surpass 
The power and glory of thy grace ; 
Great God, thy nature hath no bound — 
So let thy pard'ning love be found. 

Oh, wash my soul from every sin, 
And make my guilty conscience clean ; 
Here on my heart the burden lies, 
And past offenses pain my eyes. 

My lips with shame my sins confess, 
Against thy law, against thy grace ; 
Lord, should thy judgments grow severe, 
I am condeoin'd, but thou art clear. 

Should sudden vengea.ice seize my breath 
I must pronounce thee just in death ; 
And if my soul were sent to hell, 
Thy righteous law approves it well. 

Yet save a trembling sinner, Lord, 
Whose hope, still hov'ring round thy word, 
Would light on some sweet promise there — 
Some sure support against despair. 



38— HOME OF THE SOUL. 

I will sing you a song of that beautiful 

land, 
The far-away home of the soul, 
Where no storms ever beat on the glittering 
strand, 
While the years of eternity roll, 
While the years of eternity roll. 



73 

Oh, that home of the soul in my visions and 
dreams, 

Its bright jasper walls I can see, 
Till I fancy but thinly the vale interveaes 

Between the fair city and me. 

There the great trees of life in their beauty do 
grow, 

And the river of life floweth by, 
For no death ever enters that city you know, 

And nothing that inaketh a lie. 

That unchangeable home is for you and for me, 
Where Jesus of Nazareth stands ; 

The King of all kingdoms forever is he, 
And he holdeth our crowns in his hands. 

Oh, how sweet it will be in that beautiful land, 

So free from all sorrow and pain ! 
With songs on our lips and with harps in our 
hands, * 

To meet one another asrain. 



39— ROME OF THE BLEST. 

Oh ! when shall I dwell in a mansion all bright, 

And Jesus, my Savior, behold — 
And walk by his side, like an angel of light, 

In a city all garnished with gold? 

Cho. — Home of the blest, home of the blest, 
When wilt thou ever be mine? 
Home of the blest, home of the blest, 
Soon shalt thou ever be mine. 



74 

No pearl from the ocean, no gold from the 
mine, 
Can pardon and purity buy ; 
I'll trust in the blood of a Savior divine, 
And I'll cling to his cross till I die. 
Home of the blest, etc. 

Tho' light are the sorrows that burden his 
child, 
And fleeting the tempest of woe. 
I long for the land that was never defiled — 
To the home of the blest I would go. 
Home of the blest, etc. 

But while I'm a stranger away from my 
home, 
I'll toil in the vineyard and pray ; 
I'll carry the cross while I think of the crown, 

And I'll watch for the break of the day. 
Home of the blest, etc. 



40— HYMN. 



I need Thee every hour, 

Most gracious Lord; 
No tender voice like Thine 

Can peace afford. 

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee ; 
Every hour I need Thee ; 
Oh, bless me now, my Saviour ! 
I come to Thee. 



75 



I need Thee every hour; 

Stay Thou near by; 
Temptations lose their power 

When Thou art nigh. 

I need Thee every hour, 

In joy or pain ; 
Come quickly and abide, 

Or life is vain. 

I need Thee every hour : 
Teach me Thy will; 

And Thy rich promises 
In me fulfill. 

I need Thee every hour, 

Most Holy One ; 
Oh, make me Thine indeed, 

Thou blessed Son. 



41— HYMN. 



I know not the hour when my Lord will come 

To take me away to His own dear home ; 

But I know that His presence will lighten the 

gloom, 
And that will be glory for me. 
And that will be glory for me, oh, that will be 

glory for me ; 
But I know that His presence will lighten the 

gloom, 

And that will be glory for me. 



76 

I know not the song that the angels sing, 

I know not the sound of the harps' glad ring ; 

But I know there'll be mention of Jesus our 

King, 
And that will be music for me. 

And that- will be music for me, etc. 

I know not the form of my mansion fair, 
I know not the name that I then shall bear ; 
But I know that my Saviour will welcome me 

there, 
And that will be heaven for me. 

And that will be heaven for me, etc. 



42— HYMN. 

Light in the darkness, sailor, day is at hand ! 
See o'er the foaming billows fair Haven's land. 
Drear was the voyage, sailor, now almost o'er ; 
Safe within the life-boat, sailor, pull for the 
shore. 

Pull for the shore, sailor, pull for the shore ! 
Heed not the rolling waves, but bend to the oar; 
Safe in the life-boat, salior, cling to self no 

more! 
Leave the poor old stranded wreck and pull for 

the shore. 

Trust in the life-boat, sailor; all else will fail, 
Stronger the surges dash, and fiercer the gale ; 



77 



Heed not the stormy winds, though loudly they 
roar, 

Watch the ;; Bright and Morning Star," and 
pull for the shore. 

Bright gleams the morning, sailor, uplift the 

e ^ e 5 . . . * . 

Clouds and darkness disappearing, glory is nigh ! 

Safe in the life-boat, sailor, sing evermore, 

"Glory, glory, hallelujah!" pull for the shore. 



We will now give the reader, at the close of 
our hymnal department, the covenant of the 
Church of which I have the pleasure to be a 
teaching elder ; and which, through my instru- 
mentality, was first organized at Canal Winches- 
ter, Franklin County, Ohio, on the 26th of 
September, 1865; hoping, that, by the blessing 
of God, all who read it may adopt it as their 
covenant. 

COVENANT OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. 

We, the undersigned, do make the following 
covenant with God and with one another : That 
we will from this time henceforth take the word 
of God as the man of our council ; and, that we 
will seek constantly to know what God the Lord 
would have us do, and when our duty is made 
plain to us, either by the reading of the word of 
God or by the direction of his Spirit, we will 
discharge it the very first opportunity we have. 

Signed, A. C. Clemens, 

William Shafer, 

And others, 
(78) 



INDEX TO JjYMNS. 



"No. First Line of Hymn. Page. 

30 A few more years shall roll, 65 

18 And are we yet alive 56 

27 And let this feeble body fail 62 

12 Arabia's desert-ranger 51 

22 Blessed Redeemer! how divine 58 

8 Brother, thou was rude and naughty 47 

33 Far, far away, in the regions immortal 6S 

15 Go preach my Gospel, saith the Lord 53 

II Hail to the Lord's anointed 50 

20 Happy soul, thy days are ended 57 

7 Home, the spot of childhood's play 47 

16 I am so glad that our Father in heaven 54 

41 I know not the hour when my Lord will come. 75 
4 I'm a pilgrim and stranger 44 

40 I need thee every hour 74 

10 I was once far away from the Savior 49 

38 I will sing you a song of that beautiful land... 72 

29 Jesus calls me ; I am going 64 

32 Jesus, I my cross v have taken 67 

13 Jesus, the name high over all 52 

42 Light in the darkness, sailor, day is at hand... 76 

23 Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear 59 

31 My da vs are gliding swiftly by 66 

(79) 



80 INDEX TO HYMNS. 

No. First Line of Hymn. Page. 

36 Oh! sing to me of heaven 70 

39 Oh ! when shall I dwell in a mansion all bright. 73 

3 O, we are the sowers now coming in 43 

14 Shall I, for fear of feeble man 52 

2 Should I be a lawyer, I must cheat 42 

37 Show pity, Lord, O Lord, forgive 71 

26 Sister, thou was mild and lovely 61 

35 Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer... 70 

24 Talk with us, Lord, thyself reveal 60 

17 The great physician now is near 55 

5 The Lord, my Shepherd, now I see 45 

I There is a God, all nature says 41 

28 'Tis the last call of mercy 63 

6 To play crokay the hirelings say 46 

19 Vain man, thy fond pursuits forbear 56 

25 We are traveling, slowly traveling 60 

34 We may spread our couch with roses 69 

9 When the mists have rolled in splendor. 48 

21 Ye hearts with youthful figure warm 58 



$ Brief TVektigei^ Theology. 







written in nashville; 



BY 

A. C. CLEMENS, 

Of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, an Elder of the Church of God. 



COIFTri&IGKEII? SECURED. 



Persons wishing a copy of this work can be supplied by address- 
ing the author as above. 

PRICE, FIFTEEN CENTS. 



PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY THE 

CENTRAL BOOK CONCERN, Cincinnati, O. 
1881. 



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